Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-04-29
SPECIMENS OF THE "oUeeR."
An Expert In Counterfeit M~oney-Bogus
Gold and silver Colin.

An Expert In Counterfeit M~oney-Bogus
Gold and silver Coin.
The laws of the United States provide
penalties not only for making. uttering
and passing, but for ''having in posses
SION counterfeit money, and when o
man can safely como 10 you and flash
up a roll Of bills as large as your arm in
one hundreds, fifties, twenties and so on
down, produce from n pocket a hand
full of glittering yellow boys" and from
the other half a pint of what look like
silver coins, all counterfeit, he must be
some n quite out of the ordinary.
Such a mar is James ii. Gables, Of
New York, an expert in spotting counter
felt money, and an attache Of The United
States Treasury Counterfeit Detector,
who has just made n of his periodical
visits to Detroit. Mr.. Gables, under a
special license from the secretary Of the
treasury, carries with him about 81, 200
in the cleverest of spurious paper, gold
and silver currency, every nickel OF
which would be good with any ordinary
person for its equivalent in beer and
bologna. lie dcvotes his time and speci-
mems to enllghtening the simple a. to the
dangers of pinchbeck bills and coin, and
the necessity Of being supplied with a
counterfeit detector.
Mr.. Gables is a perfect intelligence Of
fee as to all matters relating to the
''queer," and, although he is the avowed
enemy Of counterfeiters, regards his
choicest specimens Of criminal art with
something of the pride that a connois-
seur in prints feels in displaying an ar
fists proof Of a Rafael or Morgan.
Perhaps he feels a little more joy in
exhiI iting the almost perfect work of
thusr great masters, Thomas Ballard and
Charles Ulrich, than in any other. These
are hung On the eye line Of his gallery,
and have every advantage Of light and
situation.
Ulrich did long time in the Ohio reni-
Tertiary at Columbus, and while there
made a portrait of Governor "Foghorn'
Allen, which is now the Lcst CXtant. II
was probably not in recognition Of this
service that lie was pardoned in 1876. A
number of well meaning ladies, imme-
diately upon his release, established him
in the engraving business at Columbus,
but this was too slow for him, and in less
than a year he was floating a finely exc
cuted counterfeit Of a s. bill on 4 Penn
sylvania bank. The plate was run down
in 1850, but the bills still travel and are
exceedingly dangerous.
Ballard, the other premier, is now
doing thirty years at the Albany pcniten-
tiary. under sentence imposed in 1870.
Another excellent ajet dart in Mr.. Ca
blcs' gallery is the magnificent 800
bill made and tloated 10y Smith and
Brockaway in 1850. This would easily
pass with any having small change
for il, unless he were a real expert,
One valuable suggestion made 10y Mr..
Gables is that any United States treasury
note, the number Of which is not divisi-
bic by four, is 4 counterfeit.
A fact moi generally understood is that
the margin Of profit in the making OF
bogus gold coin is very small. The tens
and twenties it is almost impossible to
make heavy enough TO deceive any one
but a pure amateur. In s. pieces Mr..
Cables shows ono which. with its mixture
of silver and fine lettering. is only dis
tinguishable from the genuine by a slight
u~nevenness of lettering. Ii will stand the
acid test almost perfectly. This coin has
an intrinsic value If S4.G0. leaving only
s per cent. Ia cover the cost Of maGufac-
ture and the risk Of a term in prison.
In silver coins there is now an elegant
and complete line If rounfrrfeits. The
best of these is 4 collar il,atcd since 1879,
full weight and iru" ring. lnt composed
Of Rabbit metal thinly coated with silver.
This costs twenty five cents laid down at
the factory, and u disposed Of TO ''shov-
ers" for fifty cents, leaving a profit Of 100
per cent. TO cover risk. Aiifty cont piece,
of 1s12. is also a lad 'un. 1t is bui!t Of
anthony. tin and Rabbit mct"l, is Of
full size AMI weight, clean cut ard hand
some, hut hes o greasy ''fccl,
The Canadian bills in Mr.. Gables cab
met are mostly well engraved. but are de-
fectivc IN lathe work and paper. In the
case of cur own notes tine pcculiarIty Of
the paper Is one Of the most difficult POINTS
for the cyuntcrfcitrr 10 overcome.
Since april. 1856 seventeen new coun-
t~erfeits of paper money have been dis
covered. Detroit Free Press.